Mittal Champions Trust to invest more in sports

Steel magnate and the richest Indian Lakshmi Mittal and his banker son-in-law Amit Bhatia have a reason to cheer following India's rich haul of medals at the Beijing Olympics.

Disappointed at India's lone medal at the Athens Olympics, the duo had set up the Mittal Champions Trust (MCT), a non-profit sports trust, with an investment of $10 mn, to support Indian players.

Their efforts delivered right in the first Olympics as athletes supported by the trust bagged two medals (including the first ever individual gold) out of India's three.

MCT was formed to identify, support and enhance the performance of talented young Indian athletes and improve India s performance at major global sporting events. The trust has supported shooter Abhinav Bindra, who struck gold and pugilist Vijender Kumar, who bagged a bronze medal.

Other players like shuttler Saina Nehwal, pugilists Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, who created a flutter ending whiskers away from a medal. The trust also supports 16-year-old Veerdhaval Khade, the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the Olympics.

In an exclusive interview to SundayET Mr Bhatia, the decision maker of the trust said, We are extremely pleased with the perform-ance of our players. Progressive performance of our players at the Olympics has proved we are on the right track and getting better.

It has proved the ethos in the trust and with the continued support, we are sure of getting many more medals at the 2012 Olympics. MCT currently has 40 athletes on board. Our athletes got the best facilities and training available in the world.

We sent them for training abroad, got the best foreign coaches, nutritionists, mind trainers and physical trainers, taking care of all their other needs. Abhinav for instance, had a problem importing ammunition. We spoke to the customs authorities and helped him im-port it on time.

Indian athletes have potential, but lack resources, infrastructure and training facilities. Having access to the best training facilities gave them the level playing advantage. People will realise that with the right support, Indian players can also do well at the international level,Mr Bhatia said.

For Abhinav Bindra, the trust s help came in timely at a crucial moment as his father AS Bindra points out. The help from MCT came in the last stage before the Olympics. The trust had promised us support worth Rs 50 lakhs and we got it.

The trust was always there to support us whenever we needed, Mr Bindra said. Veerdhaval found help in MCT when the Indian government bodies had turned him away, according to his father Vikram Khade. ���We could afford to support Veerdhaval training needs within India, but needed help when he needed to go abroad.

The government bodies told us to abort our plans if we could not afford, but did not help us. MCT provided us the crucial help and financial support when we needed, along with some other private bodies.���

Now with a successful model, MCT would invest more in Indian sports and is also looking to build training facilities in the country, Mr Bhatia said.

We will focus on Olympic sports, which lack support in India and incubate talent in these sports. We will not support cricket, football and tennis, as these sports already have supporters.

Though we will send our athletes abroad for training, we will also look to create fa-cilities in India, as and when we need, Mr Bhatia said.

We had initially committed $10 mn, but we have the funds and would spend whatever the trust needs. We have a successful model, and we hope it will inspire other Indian corporates come ahead to support other sports.

We also hope that medal winners will inspire athletes to take up these sports and realise that they can be assured of money and fame, he added.